Shop Owner Thought Driver In Colfax Marathon Hit & Run Was Dead
DENVER (CBS4) - Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who drove through a barricade at the crowded Colfax Marathon on Sunday morning.
It began in Lakewood, when the driver of a red Toyota truck drove right through the marathon race course. No runners were hit, but police said he made contact with a wooden barricade at West Colfax Avenue while heading south on Wadsworth Boulevard.
Earlier, he crashed into three vehicles and two motorcycles.
"It was pretty crazy to wake up to this morning," said Bob Kaeser, who saw the Toyota bang into the vehicles.
"I just seen the truck itself coming around the corner and kkkkkrrrr....a bunch of chaos it sounded like and drug this truck over, knocked the motorcycle over, the motorcycle alarm went off," Kaeser said.
Shortly before that, Roland, the owner of a pot paraphernalia shop called iBake, noticed the driver parked at his drive-up window. He was puzzled because the man did not bother to ring the buzzer for assistance.
"Honestly I did think he was dead, that's actually what prompted me to call police, because I knocked on his window and he was totally unresponsive, I couldn't even see the guy breathing," Roland said.
Two Lakewood officers arrived, repeatedly asking the driver to step out of the vehicle, Roland says.
"And then one of the last moments, they told him he needed to get out of the vehicle or they were going to pull him out," said Roland.
He said the police tried to stop the man by using their stun guns, but the Toyota driver hit the gas.
"You could hear it, like dat, dat, dat, dat, dat," described Roland.
It's unconfirmed if the suspect was actually stunned before driving off.
"I was more concerned about was if the officers were okay because one of them was in between my building and his truck," said Roland.
That red Toyota was driven some 5 miles into Denver's uptown neighborhood before being ditched. The driver stopped and fled on foot.
Lakewood police have the Toyota, but have not said if the suspect has been identified.
